This yarn pattern is on a tree in Tuffley Avenue.

It has brought a smile to many in the community who have walked or driven past.

After the year we have had we could all do with a few more smiles and to ‘bee kind’ to each other.

Litter and leaves were cleared from Tuffley Avenue recently at my urging.

The Liberal Democrats have been campaigning for a better litter and bin clearance service in Gloucester.

Sadly at full council this week, the Conservatives rejected our call for a root and branch review of the service in Gloucester,

They obviously think things are fine as they are. We know differently.

If you spot a litter bin or litter that needs clearing, please let me know.

Cityfibre are currently laying down fibre cable in the streets of Gloucester, often using the existing utility trenches.

When the work is complete, you should be able to get connected to faster broadband via your existing provider.

I am in regular contact with Cityfibre, so if you have any questions or issues you can either contact me, or use the website to raise anything.

Inevitably there will be some disruption during these works. I have dealt with a couple of issues recently, and Cityfibre have been very swift to get back to me.

This is a good news story for Gloucester, as we all know how much we value a fast internet connection, especially since the pandemic.

Gloucester City Council has announced its events programme for a busy summer and autumn filled with events and festivals as the city comes out of lockdown. 

As the government has now issued the roadmap to ease restrictions around social distancing the city council has been busy finalising the event programme for Gloucester. 

Summer this year sees the return of the Gloucester Goes Retro Festival and a new exciting festival which will see the comedian John Bishop and McFly perform in Gloucester Park. 

And this winter the city will be illuminated by a range of artists for Bright Nights. All events are subject to current government guidelines. Safety is always the main priority for all events.

Fake Festivals – Sat 10 July

Gloucester Carnival – Sat 17 July

Rooftop Festival – 22 – 25 July

Summer Party with McFly – John Bishop  – 23-24 July

Gloucester funfair – 31 July – 8 August

Jamaican independence Festival – Sunday 1 August

Gloucester Goes Retro – Sat 28 August

Kings Jam – August (dates tba)

Gloucester History Festival (including Gloucester Day)  – 4 – 19 September

Gloucester Pride – 11 September

Bright Nights Season including lights switch on event – Oct – January

Tall Ships Festival 2022 ( June Platinum Jubilee weekend )

The Museum of Gloucester run by Gloucester City Council has developed a new Museum Development Plan to future-proof the museum over the next five years.

It sees the museum deliver fundamental improvements in areas such as events, education and engagement to ensure it can be the quality museum that a historic city like Gloucester deserves.

The Development Plan also gives consideration to the wider national, regional and local context, including the recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Recent work into the museum’s audience has helped shape the strategy which focuses on increasing the number of visitors and helping them make the most of their visit. 

It sets out a number of aims including connecting people through shared experiences such as social or educational activities and working with the community to stage more events, exhibitions and educational sessions. 

As well as ensuring the museum is sustainable the plan commits to addressing social and environmental challenges such as Black Lives Matter, social deprivation and climate change. 

There are four key priority areas:

Collections  – preserving and interpreting the museum’s collections to best engage with the public​

Public Programming – curating an engaging and stimulating programme to educate and entertain

Audiences – making sure the museum is an accessible organisation that works with the community  

Sustainability – making sure the museum is sustainable and creates commercial opportunities

You can read the plan here.

Gloucester City Council is urging non-essential businesses including retail mandated to close, hospitality, accommodation, gym, leisure centres, hairdressers and nail salons severely financially impacted by Covid during the current lockdown to find out if they are eligible for government support.

The city council has been distributing grants to businesses who qualify under a range of grants that are be made available by government to meet the evolving situation.

Businesses which receive a business rates bill and had to close during the November and January lockdowns or hospitality businesses, hotels, bed and breakfasts, those in leisure and events or the direct supply chain for these businesses who remained open but with reduced trading during the November and January lockdowns, who have not yet submitted a grant application for that period, are encouraged to do so. The application window for the November and January lockdown grants will close on 3st March 2021.

The re-opening of non-essential businesses is currently planned for 12th April as part of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown.

The government recently announced new ‘restart grants’ will be available to help with the re-opening of local businesses. Business owners will be able to apply for these new ‘restart grants’ from next month. 

For more information about the grants that are available, visit the Council’s website.

I reported this knocked over street light last week and I’m pleased that the council attended the same day to remove it.

Hopefully it will be back in place soon once it’s been repaired.

If you notice any street signs or lights that are damaged please let me know.

There are a good number of trees in Podsmead especially at Tuffley Park and Tuffley Avenue, as well of course as at Oakland’s Park and other areas.

Working with The Club at Tuffley Park I have called for the council to sweep up and remove the leaves from outside the entrance to The Club.

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I have written to Highways calling for action on the issues in Newark Road, Podsmead.

There is a loose kerb-stone, a pothole in the pavement and many large cracks in the road surface.

I would like to know when the cracks and pits in the road reach the threshold for action. Certainly the road does not appear to be on the schedule for resurfacing.

The Tories like to remind us of the sums they are investing in our roads. Sadly not much is finding its way to Gloucester.

Gloucester City Council will appoint Gloucestershire company Ubico to collect residents’ waste from April next year.

Ubico is co-owned by the other local Councils in Gloucestershire (plus West Oxfordshire) and will provide Gloucester with waste and recycling services, street and toilet cleaning, grounds and tree maintenance. 

The contract will see Gloucester City Council also become a shareholder in the waste and recycling company which will allow it a greater say on service changes and improvements. 

Cabinet members took the decision at this week’s cabinet meeting not to extend the contract with its current provider Urbaser who recently took over the contract from Amey. 

It followed a report by independent auditors KPMG who looked at the proposals put forward by both Ubico and Urbaser and made recommendations about which services would provide best value for taxpayers money and a quality service. 

The proposals include an offer by Ubico to improve response times to deal with waste issues, an emergency out of hours service and enhanced requirements for the cleaning of public highways.

The publicly owned company also pledges to work with the local community and help address antisocial behaviour through using targeted groundworks and street furniture which can reduce fly tipping and vandalism. 

Other benefits of working with Ubico include its Ubico Academy initiative and approach to training and development by encouraging local employment and apprenticeships. 

In addition, Ubico’s alternative fuel trials and desire to move towards greener technology is in line with Gloucester’s environmental policies. 

The deal sees a £5 million investment for the purchase of new vehicles which would also benefit from advances in technology helping the city to reduce its carbon footprint.